Credit-accounting appliance.



-ITO-.815,785 'PA'IBNTED MAR. 20, 1906,y IIBENNBTT.

lCREDIT ACGOUNTINGIAPPLIANGE;

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I3, 19o5.

3 SHEETS-SHEET ly J. T. BENNETT.

CREDIT ACCOUNTING APPLIANGE;

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1905.

s sHBETsA-SHBET-z.

-PATNNTED MARfzo, 1906.

y PATENTEDMAR. 20,1906; i I'. J. BENNETI l CREDIT ACCOUNTING APPL-IANGE.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 13.`1905.

v 3 SHEETS-SHEET 8 zo 'stanti'ally t JOsErH J. BENNETT, or LISBON, OHIO. i cREDlT-ACQOUNTING APPLIANCE.

'i meisjes'.

` .Tofu/ZZ whom; zitmay concern/:

. Be it known that` I, JOSEPH J BENNETT, a citizen 'ofthe United States, residing at Lisyv-fbon, in the .countyofiColumbiana and State.l 5. of Ohio,- have invented'new and useful Im.-

provementsinCredit-Accountin Appliances, of which the following is a speci cation.

z l'This invention relates to credit-acc'ountingl l appliances; and the object thereof-is to pro- 1o v1 e an; appliance in a` manner as hereinafter set'fforth' which 'is particularly adaptedffor the use ofmerchants' in 'carryingy out asystemof keeping accounts a ainst their cus tomers who may buy on cre it. I The' invention further aims to 1 provide `cheap' and economical a plianc'eswhereby the credit accounts ma ,without re uiring other entries than subqhose that are ordinarilymadewhen making up andfilling the orders for goods.

The invention vfurther aims y to` "provide means hereinafter more specifically lreferre'd v to whereby a series of accounts 1s connected in such .a manner as to ermit the removing of the same bod-ily, so that the said series of ,f accounts can be stored in a safe 'or vault ywhen occasion'requires.

3o The invention -fuaher aims tof provide `means hereinafter more specifically referred to whereby a salesman or attendant ycan readily and conveniently ascertainv each cus-` l tomers account, as well as lilin any. addirack. The :invention further aims. to provide a credit-"accounting appliance which shall bel tions thereto in the'respective bil holder or simple in its construction, strong", durable', 4o efficient 1n its use, and comparatlvely inexpensiveto'manufacture'.` 4 v With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention kconsists of the novlel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter ymore specifically described,

' and illustrated in the accompanying draw-4 ings,.whcrein.is shown thepreferred embodie ment of the inventi'ombut it is to be under-l stood thatjchanges, variations', and modifie 5o cations can be resorted to which come within" the scope of the fclaims hereunto appended. .Inidescribing the`invention in detailrefer- :ence: is had'. to the' accompanying drawings,

.wherein-like reference characters denote cori 'Speccation'of Letters Patent; v I I Application filed September 13, 19Q5. Serial No. 278,306.

e kept accurately f and-in theleast-possi le amount of ytime l -b respodin Parts throughout thek se'vlal Views, an in which--' v ,accounting appliancein accordance with this invention, rear through one ofthe series of bill'holders or racks and the receptacle.

of bill hol 6 is a perspective view of one ofthe bill hol ers or racks; v 4credit-accounting appliance in accordance with this inventioncom rises a recep- .tacle and'one or more series o billholders or racks,the bill holders or racks'f eachseries allow of each series being bodily movable to enable the removing of a series from thereceptacle and the storing ofthe series in a safe or vault. Each bill holder or rack of each sed ries is suitably designated, the designation associating withan index carried lby the cover index the designation of that lbill holder or rack'inwhich the customers accountis carholder or rack and ascertain the customers "account or insert additions to `the vaccount ber of which is rovided with av drawer 2 for storing the or inary sales check-book or bers is divided by a series of partitions 3 into reference characters 4 5 6 7 8,) each compartto form means forsuppojrtinrfgg the covers 10.

bill holders or racks, each series being ind-iwithin one of the compartments 4, 5, 6, 7,

vcover 10. As showin-"thecompartments4 ried-canbe ascertained,l so that the salesmanv or atten 'ant can readily find the necessary bill occasion so requires. The receptacle is indcated by the reference character 1, which yis formed into two chambers, the lower chamment havin the end rests 8a. Each of the partitions 31's s iouldered, as at 9, atits top','so as The compartments 4, 5, 6, 7, 'and 8 are each, adapted-to receive a bodily-movable series of .cated by the reference'character. 11, When a' series ofbill holdersor racks is not placed Figure 1 is a transverse section of acredit- 1g. 2 is a section from frontv toy Fig. v31s afront .view with the cover of the receptacle open. q

is ,a (perspective view showing a seriesy I ers or racks'hinged to the base.a

Fig. 5 is a section through'the base, and Figiv l6'5 eing connected to a common base, so as to of the receptacle, sothatby reference to the other objects,"and the upper of said chama series of compartments, (indicated by the 1 IOO and 8, the said compartment is closerlbyf thev 1 105 and 5 have each arranged thereinjia series `of bill holders. orracks 1-1, andthe, 'compartf ment s.6,i "7,1g ,and8 are closed through the medium of the covers 10. The covers in this instance act as a support upon which the salesman or attendant can write.

- The cover of the .receptacle 1 is indicated by the reference characters`12, and, is.s11it ablyv hinged to the said receptacle, as at 12a, and has its inner face formed into a cardrack 13, which receives the index-cards 14.

ser

The rack 13y and the cards 14 areprotected 'through the medium of a sheet of transparent material 15, which is secured to the frame 16. The latter is hinged to the cover 12, as at 12b, and provided with a catch 12C, so that the frame 16 can be lowered and the index-cards 14 inserted and removed when.occasion reuires. The index-cards 14 are alphabetica ly arranged, and upon said cards are placed the names of the customers, as at 17, and at the side ofeach name of the Acustomer the proper designation for his bill holder or rackfor example, an index -'number, as at 18, which corresponds with the index-number 19 on the customers bill holder or rack. The -bill holders or racks of each series are connected to a common detached flat base 20, and each of the bill hold ers or racks consists of a body portion 21, having side flanges 22, a centrally-arranged supporting and retaining arm 23 at the lower end, an eye 24, and' at `their top a protuberance 25. Upon the protuberance 25 is placed the index-number 19, and extending through the eye 24 is a wire-retaining member 26, which is secured at each end to the base 20, and the purpose thereof is to hinge the bill holder or rack with the base. The function of the side anges 22 is to act as retaining means for thebills or' account-sheets 28, Aas well as to prevent lateral play of said bills or account-sheets 28, and the function of the arm 23 is to prevent the bulging ofthe said bills or account-sheets 428, as well as retain the said bills or sheets within their respective bill holder or rack when swinging the same. At the front of each base 2() a blank closure member 29 lis hinged, as at 30, the function of the member 29 being to close or conceal the forward bill holder or rack. Preferably the bill holders or racks are formed of met-al; but any other suitable material can be employed. When formed of metal, the arm 23 is, struck out from or is separated or riveted to the body portion. When formed of other material, the arm 23 is suit'ablyconnected thereto. The bill holders or racks are so constructed as to con- -tain but a single persons account, so that but a single account will be exposed during the-'manipulation of a series, that accountwhich is. exposed being the'customers account, thus preventing the customer .from seeing 'or read-ing any other of the accounts within the series. In ractical use the bill holders or racks of eac 1 series normally extend at an inclination or, rather, lean toward, -the back of the compartment in which t-he sebill-holders or racks permitting of the'` series being stored inthe ordinary pigeonhole of a safe.

-The providing of the index on the inner face of the cover 12 of the receptacle enables only the salesman or attendant to see the l names of the variousk customers, and, furthermore, prevents the customer from ascertaining the names of other customers, which otherwise would be the case ifthe indeXrack and cards were exposed. The cover 12 when closed also acts as a support upon which the salesman or attendant can Write the bills. The bills, however, may be written out at any part of the store, the only entries to be made at the receptacle being the old ,balances nd new footings, showing the new balances It is thought that the operation of the appliance can'be readily understood from foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings; but it 'will vbe stated that when acustomer has been' served and the bill made thesalesman or attendant will raise the cover 12, ascertain the number of the customers bill holder or rack by reference to the index-card. The salesman or attendant will then shift the racks of the seriesuntilhe reaches the customers bill holder or rack, and he will then place the new bill therein or do whatever is necessary. The bill holders or. racks while in `the compartments can'be moved forwardly and backwardly, (swinging on their connections with the base). either collectively or separately, as occasion requires. The series of compartments 4 5 6 7 8 permit of increasing the capacity of the account system without inconvenience or material cost. This is evident, as a cover 10 can be removed from the empty compartments and a series of bill-racks or bill-holders inserted.

` Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Credit-accounting appliances comprising a receptacle provided with a covering, a card-indexcarried by the cover, a removable ilat base mounted in said receptacle, and a. series of bill holders or racks designated to associate with said vcard-index, hinged to the base and bodily removable with the base from the receptacle.

2. Credit-accounting appliances comprising a receptacle having a cover and a series of compartments, certain of which are rovided with covers, a card-index carrie by the.

IOO

cover,l a removable iiat basemounted-in one of said compartments,l and a series of bill vholders or racks designated'to associate vwith said index, hinged to the base `and bodily removable .with the base romthe said come partment. l

3. Credit-accountin ap liances comprising a receptacle Iprovi edlwlth a cover, an'index carried lby t and adaptedto protect the index, av lremove cover, ent material suitably connected to the'cover able base mounted in said rece tacle, and a series of bill holders or racks esignatedA to 'I r nently hinging the holder to the base.

` 'associate with said index, hinged to the base and bodily removable with the base from the receptacle,4 f -4. Credit-accounting'appliances compris-` 'ing the combination witha detached flatvbase, of -Ineans for receivingfaccounts conn ected with the base, said means consisting of a series ofbill holders or racks, eachconsisting of a body portion having side flanges formlngpocket's, a combined supporting and retainingarm having its lower end extending at right-an les and `connected to the body ,portioman a transverselyrextendingeye at g the lower end'of the body portion, combinedI with means ,enga

ng in the eye for hlnging the holderto the ase. l

5. Credit-accounting appliances comprising the combination witha detached fiat base,'o means for receiving accounts connected with thebase, said means consisting l. of a seriesof bill holders orracks, each consisting of a body portion having'sijde flanges forming pockets a combined supporting and retaining arm having its lower-.end extending' at'right an les and connected to the body portion, an a transversely-'extending'eye at the lower end of the. body portion, combined with means engaging in t e eye for f 6. Creditacc ountin appliances compris-l ing a receptacle provi ed with a cover and a compartment, a pair of end rests 1n saldcompartment, means to constitute an index caririedv by the cover, a removable Hat detached a She'etof transparfrom the; receptacle. permabase mounted in said compartment, and auseries v.of bill holders or racks designated to as' .sociate with said index, hinged to the base the base from and bodily vremovable with said com artment.

Cre itaccountin appliances comprislng a receptacle provi ed with a cover and a compartment,l a pair of end rests in said compartment, means toconstitute .anindex carried Vby the cover, a removable flat detached b ase mounted in said compartment, a'series v of bill holders or racks designated to" associate with said index, hin ed to the Lbase and bodily removable with-t e` base from said compartment, and means connected with the cover for' rotecting the index and to permit of access eing had to the index.

'8. Credit-accounting appliances compils-.iv

inga receptacle having a`coverand a series of compartments arranged therem, covers for certain' ofsaid compartments, a'pair of end restsv in each` of said compartments, and means to constitute `an index carried by the recept acle-cover, a detached removable'iiat base mounted in-each of two or more of said compartments, and a series of bill 'holders or racks hinged to eachof the `said basesfand bodily removable-With their respectivel bases fromsaid compartmentgcach of said bill holders or rackslof each series of bill holders or racks suitably. designated to associate'with saidindexf I 9. 'Creditaccounting appliances' comprisf ing a receptacle. provided with 'a cover., a

cardfindex carried by the cover,`aremov able base mounted in said receptacle, anda series.

of bill holders l'orracks designated to associate With said card-index, connected to the base, and bodily removable with thebase 

